Rating: Summary: You have to "GET IT" to enjoy Peking Man!!! Review: This is a little exploitation movie aimed squarly at hip people who often "GET IT" and not at pseudo intelectuals who like to poke fun at films like this and consider them quaint or "so bad its funny". This film is really intended as an homage to adventures like KING KONG , SHEENA and TARZAN. More of a tribute than rip-off, it obvious that alot of care was placed in the making of the film. Its easy to mock the special effects, but before you do, consider the budget constraints. This was not Paramount or Universal, it was Shaw Brothers. If you "get it" like I do, you will enjoy Peking Man, If not may i recommend THE CORE, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, INDEPENDENCE DAY or 1998's GODZILLA.
P.S. There were alternate edits of this film released to theatres in the USA in 1978. They were created through some clever editing on the part of the american distributor, who wanted a more upbeat finale. In one version the girl lives at the end. In another version its all ambiguous. In another one it looks like the girl makes it but the guy gets shot. In another, Peking man is still alive after his fall. And in yet another version he never falls at all.
This version is the unedited original as the director intended.
Long live Goliathon, the chinese King Kong.
Rating: Summary: A CAMP-TRASH CLASSIC! Review: As a fan of schlocky, "so bad they're good" films, I have seen quite a few that simply amaze with their ineptness, from classics such as "Plan 9" and "Robot Monster" to more recent howlers such as "Lake Placid". However, nothing - and I mean nothing - could have prepared me fully for the experience of finally seeing "Mighty Peking Man". This film is an absolute camp-trash GOLDMINE; a cinematic abomination so astonishingly bad that it defies rational explanation. It literally must be seen to be believed! This is not a criticism, however; but rather an endorsement: "Mighty Peking Man" is punishingly hilarious; an unintentional laugh-riot of lame acting, atrocious dubbing, and inarguably the worst - the WORST - optical effects I have ever witnessed in a professional (and that's stretching the word to its outer limits) motion picture. The movie goes so far over the top that it borders on the psychedelic; indeed, copious amounts of mind-altering substances are probably required to get the full "Peking Man" experience. The film's grade-Z pleasures are too numerous to list, but would certainly start with Peking Man himself: a moth-eaten, googly-eyed, rubber-mouthed gorilla suit, from all appearances rented from a local costume shop and about as convincing. Then there's Evelyne Kraft, the "heroine", who, despite living in the wild jungle for 20 years, sports a perfect 1970's-era Farrah Fawcett layered hairdo, mascara, and a seemingly endless supply of lip gloss. Throw in a romance between Kraft and "Johnny", the hero (complete with a wretchedly awful - and brutally funny - slow motion "running through the fields" sequence as they "fall in love", while all the while the out-of-tune orchestra warbles on) and the oblogitory final battle between Peking Man and woefully obvious model helicopters (the strings supporting them fully visible) and you have the stuff of which cult midnight-movie dreams are made. Kudos to Quentin Tarantino for resurrecting this trashy gem, in widescreen no less! For those of you out there who relish so-unbelievably-bad-they're-cool films, put "Showgirls" on hold and give this one a go; you won't regret it. Now, Quentin, how about a reissue of "KISS meets the Phantom of the Park"?
Rating: Summary: A CAMP-TRASH CLASSIC! Review: As a fan of schlocky, "so bad they're good" films, I have seen quite a few that simply amaze with their ineptness, from classics such as "Plan 9" and "Robot Monster" to more recent howlers such as "Lake Placid". However, nothing - and I mean nothing - could have prepared me fully for the experience of finally seeing "Mighty Peking Man". This film is an absolute camp-trash GOLDMINE; a cinematic abomination so astonishingly bad that it defies rational explanation. It literally must be seen to be believed! This is not a criticism, however; but rather an endorsement: "Mighty Peking Man" is punishingly hilarious; an unintentional laugh-riot of lame acting, atrocious dubbing, and inarguably the worst - the WORST - optical effects I have ever witnessed in a professional (and that's stretching the word to its outer limits) motion picture. The movie goes so far over the top that it borders on the psychedelic; indeed, copious amounts of mind-altering substances are probably required to get the full "Peking Man" experience. The film's grade-Z pleasures are too numerous to list, but would certainly start with Peking Man himself: a moth-eaten, googly-eyed, rubber-mouthed gorilla suit, from all appearances rented from a local costume shop and about as convincing. Then there's Evelyne Kraft, the "heroine", who, despite living in the wild jungle for 20 years, sports a perfect 1970's-era Farrah Fawcett layered hairdo, mascara, and a seemingly endless supply of lip gloss. Throw in a romance between Kraft and "Johnny", the hero (complete with a wretchedly awful - and brutally funny - slow motion "running through the fields" sequence as they "fall in love", while all the while the out-of-tune orchestra warbles on) and the oblogitory final battle between Peking Man and woefully obvious model helicopters (the strings supporting them fully visible) and you have the stuff of which cult midnight-movie dreams are made. Kudos to Quentin Tarantino for resurrecting this trashy gem, in widescreen no less! For those of you out there who relish so-unbelievably-bad-they're-cool films, put "Showgirls" on hold and give this one a go; you won't regret it. Now, Quentin, how about a reissue of "KISS meets the Phantom of the Park"?
Rating: Summary: A CAMP-TRASH CLASSIC! Review: As a fan of schlocky, "so bad they're good" films, I have seen quite a few that simply amaze with their ineptness, from classics such as "Plan 9" and "Robot Monster" to more recent howlers such as "Lake Placid". However, nothing - and I mean nothing - could have prepared me fully for the experience of finally seeing "Mighty Peking Man". This film is an absolute camp-trash GOLDMINE; a cinematic abomination so astonishingly bad that it defies rational explanation. It literally must be seen to be believed! This is not a criticism, however; but rather an endorsement: "Mighty Peking Man" is punishingly hilarious; an unintentional laugh-riot of lame acting, atrocious dubbing, and inarguably the worst - the WORST - optical effects I have ever witnessed in a professional (and that's stretching the word to its outer limits) motion picture. The movie goes so far over the top that it borders on the psychedelic; indeed, copious amounts of mind-altering substances are probably required to get the full "Peking Man" experience. The film's grade-Z pleasures are too numerous to list, but would certainly start with Peking Man himself: a moth-eaten, googly-eyed, rubber-mouthed gorilla suit, from all appearances rented from a local costume shop and about as convincing. Then there's Evelyne Kraft, the "heroine", who, despite living in the wild jungle for 20 years, sports a perfect 1970's-era Farrah Fawcett layered hairdo, mascara, and a seemingly endless supply of lip gloss. Throw in a romance between Kraft and "Johnny", the hero (complete with a wretchedly awful - and brutally funny - slow motion "running through the fields" sequence as they "fall in love", while all the while the out-of-tune orchestra warbles on) and the oblogitory final battle between Peking Man and woefully obvious model helicopters (the strings supporting them fully visible) and you have the stuff of which cult midnight-movie dreams are made. Kudos to Quentin Tarantino for resurrecting this trashy gem, in widescreen no less! For those of you out there who relish so-unbelievably-bad-they're-cool films, put "Showgirls" on hold and give this one a go; you won't regret it. Now, Quentin, how about a reissue of "KISS meets the Phantom of the Park"?
Rating: Summary: HYSTERICAL Review: Finally, a "Bad" movie that lives up to all it's hype! This is one absolutely hysterical trash epic that every cult movie fan needs to see. From the opening moments to the ridiculous finale, there are tons of laughs to be had in this Hong Kong "King Kong" rip-off --- the effects are atrocious, the melodrama is way over the top, the dialog is hilarious, the acting is terrible --- and it all comes together into one great package of stupidity! This is one truly godawful piece of junk that delivers the goods. Originally released in the 70's as "Goliathon", "Mighty Peking Man" is a true treasure trove of dumbness. Thank you Tarantino for resurrecting it! The DVD looks great --- the film is in panavison and includes the trailer (for the recent re-issue only). If you enjoy bad movies, this one is a hoot! Move over Godzilla!
Rating: Summary: Bogus BOGOSITY! Review: Highly overrated Quentin Tarantino exposes the questionable,rank roots of his PM Pulp Cinema career in this dubiously acclaimed satircal mess.There's nothing "mighty" about THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN. It's like dreck Kevin Smith palms-off on his Jersey Girl audiences: a wanna-be director's shot at camp classic glory in wicked manner of Roman satirist,Petronius.(Who?) This paeon to Toho(RODAN and GODZILLA) short-stack piled-on King Kong and TARZANne (Queen of the Jungle)is messterpiece of bogosity.Toho-Toys-R-Us special effects are forgivable. But PM multi-sexual agenda parodied here, in guise of DEAD MEN disparagement of the Quest...more successfully conned in PULP FICTION's anti-police procedural gang-bangster "epic"...is beyond borders bad. Masochistic humor has its place. The British primoed-it with MONTY PYTHON years ago. SNATCH is king of PM quest put-on's/downs.MPM is juvenile, cinematic onanism celebrated on MTV and Prime Time News. MIGHTY JOE YOUNG remains best satire on King Kong. Tarantino's dusk-til-dawn decadence deserves the kind of hash applause a culture that's ashamed of heroes, love and honor breeds:This is it...ferocity bogosity to the max!
Rating: Summary: So bad you can't look past it Review: I know this movie is not to be taken seriously. If you appreciate the humor in cheezy monster movies, then you might like this for a little while. After the novelty wears off, the movie grates on your nerves. This movie is to be viewed under heavy stupefying intoxication. Down a half case of beer and turn it on for a good laugh. If you watch it sober, you will have to resort to alchohol to finish it. Truly terrible.
Rating: Summary: Poor Peking Man Review: I think this must be the all time worst film I had the mispleasure to watch. Quentin Tarrantino's movies, I realize, have quaint campy thoughts behind them, but! The Mighty Peking Man is just plain bad: lousy timing on speaking, poor quality cinematrography, "C" grade actors/actresses, and the list goes on. If you like this type movie, then The Mighty Peking Man fits the bill. It fits right in to late, late, late night movies on the TV. However, if you like quality, don't watch it. I turned it off several times, and turned it back on. I tried alcohol, but it didn't help. Only by hitting the stop button did it get better. Maybe in several years, Quentin will make another movie in the class of Pulp Fiction, but this one doesn't come close.
Rating: Summary: Poor Peking Man Review: I think this must be the all time worst film I had the mispleasure to watch. Quentin Tarrantino's movies, I realize, have quaint campy thoughts behind them, but! The Mighty Peking Man is just plain bad: lousy timing on speaking, poor quality cinematrography, "C" grade actors/actresses, and the list goes on. If you like this type movie, then The Mighty Peking Man fits the bill. It fits right in to late, late, late night movies on the TV. However, if you like quality, don't watch it. I turned it off several times, and turned it back on. I tried alcohol, but it didn't help. Only by hitting the stop button did it get better. Maybe in several years, Quentin will make another movie in the class of Pulp Fiction, but this one doesn't come close.
Rating: Summary: KING KONG meets SHEENA Review: I'm honestly not sure whether to give this film one star because it's so poorly made or five stars just for it's sheer entertainment value. So I'm settling on four. Here's the story: Hong Kong explorer Johnney is depressed ever since he found his girlfriend in bed with his brother. (If this happened today, they'd go on Jerry Springer.) He is hired by a rich tycoon to go to a jungle and find a giant ape-god. Johnney goes to the jungle with some aides and soon after arriving they are beset upon by all sorts of perils. I know jungles aren't normally regarded as the safest of places, but this one seems especially dangerous. The extras get killed off left and right, making you wonder if it's the world's deadliest jungle, if these guys lack any kind of explorer training or experience whatsoever, or if exploring a jungle is like going off to war, where casualties are ineveitable. Eventually the survivors try to convince Johnney to give up and go home, but Johnney won't go until he's found what he's looking for. So during the night the others pack up and sneak off while he's asleep, in one of the film's few logical moments. The next morning Johnney wakes up and finds himself alone. Then, in one of the movie's greatest moments, the title beast manages to sneak up on him and grab him from behind without him noticing! The monster is like 50 ft. tall, it's broad daylight, and Johnney's wide awake, yet somehow he didn't notice the creature was right behind him the whole time! Later Johnney meets Samantha, a white woman whose plane crashed in the jungle when she was like 5 or 6 and whose parents were killed in the crash. Sam is now a grown woman in a jungle bikini who is friends with Peking Man. Natrually she and Johnney fall in love, and then he convinces her to take Peking Man and go back with him to Hong Kong. You can probably guess what happens from here. If you happen to already own PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE and THE MIGHTY GORGA, put this one in your video collection alongside those two.
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